Tim Scrantom and Sean Coffey Announce the Formation of BlackRobe Capital Partners, LLC, a "Next Generation" Commercial Claim Investor

NEW YORK, Oct. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Timothy D. Scrantom, a pioneer in commercial claim finance, and John P. ("Sean") Coffey, until recently one of America's most successful trial lawyers, today announced the launch of their new venture, BlackRobe Capital Partners, LLC. BlackRobe is a commercial claim investor that, in addition to financing, will offer claimholders in high-stakes business disputes a variety of services designed to help claimholders optimize recoveries in those disputes.

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BlackRobe's entry into the commercial claim investment market was featured prominently in an article on page B-1 in today's Wall Street Journal.

BlackRobe brings together Mr. Scrantom, who oversaw the deployment of over $100 million in investments while President of Juridica Capital Management, and Mr. Coffey, who built a record of success in evaluating, litigating, managing, and resolving high-value commercial cases as one of the country's most high-profile plaintiffs' lawyers.

BlackRobe will assist claimholders in large-scale commercial litigation and arbitration cases in virtually all industry sectors, in the United States and abroad. BlackRobe plans to apply highly disciplined claim underwriting, structuring, and management systems to potential claim investments, investing in major commercial claims where the likely recovery exceeds $50 million and the potential return is proportionate to the due diligence cost and overall investment of capital and services. BlackRobe will focus on claims prosecuted by premier lawyers with a proven track record of success. It does not intend to invest in personal injury, mass tort, or class action claims, or claims between individuals.

BlackRobe will do more than provide financing. "BlackRobe is pioneering the application of private equity principles to investments in legal claims," said Mr. Scrantom. In addition to providing capital to finance claims, BlackRobe will offer additional services, including investigative, public relations, and strategic political services. "The claimholder's preferred lawyers will continue to control the legal aspects of the case, consistent with applicable legal and ethical rules, but they will have the benefit of a team of diverse, experienced consultants who address the varied needs of claimholders and the complexity of claims in today's society," explained University of Miami law professor Michele DeStefano Beardslee, who serves as ethics and compliance advisor to BlackRobe. "With this evolved, multi-disciplinary approach," Mr. Coffey stated, "BlackRobe Capital seeks to help claimholders resolve disputes more efficiently, economically, and predictably while at the same time generating significant returns for BlackRobe's investors."

The BlackRobe Team

Tim Scrantom, Executive Managing Director, is a pioneer in the emerging field of litigation finance. In 2007, he developed and was a co-founder of Juridica Investments Ltd, a London Stock Exchange/AIM-listed claims investment fund. In 2009, he conceived and launched the Law, Finance and Capital Markets Program with the RAND Corporation. An American lawyer and an English barrister-at-law (Gray's Inn, currently non-practicing), Mr. Scrantom's career has been a blend of active private law practice, academics, and innovation in the field of international law and business. His expertise as a strategist and forensic investigator has led to notable resolutions, including the exposure of the largest Islamic terrorist-sponsoring charity network in the U.S. and the settlement of business claims in connection with the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. Over the years, he has been involved with many of the leading cases in the world concerning rogue nations and state sponsors of terrorism. Widely published in the areas of international law, finance, and fiscal matters, Mr. Scrantom has also appeared on international broadcasts and spoken at conferences of professionals and government leaders in over a dozen countries.

Sean Coffey, Executive Managing Director, has served as co-managing partner of the preeminent plaintiffs' litigation firm Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP, a litigation partner at the international law firm Latham & Watkins LLP, and an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. An experienced courtroom advocate, Mr. Coffey tried cases as a federal prosecutor, plaintiff's attorney, and defense attorney. While at Bernstein Litowitz, he led teams that recovered over $10 billion for securities investors, and served as lead lawyer in two of the largest civil cases ever to go to trial, the WorldCom, Inc. Securities Litigation and the Baptist Foundation of Arizona audit malpractice case. Mr. Coffey was named one of the country's "top ten" winning trial attorneys by the National Law Journal in 2005, and was repeatedly selected as one of Lawdragon's top American lawyers and Chambers USA's leading lawyers. He retired from Bernstein Litowitz to run unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for New York Attorney General in 2010. Mr. Coffey is a retired Navy Captain, whose military career included assignments as personal assistant to Vice President George H.W. Bush and commanding officer of both a reserve P-3C Orion squadron and the reserve component of the Enterprise carrier battle group staff.

Messrs. Scrantom and Coffey are joined by a distinguished team of experts. BlackRobe's investment underwriting processes are supported by Strategic Advisors Ron Liebman, former head of the litigation department at Patton Boggs LLP, and Martha Solinger, co-General Counsel of the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. bankruptcy estate; Director and Chief Underwriting Manager Boaz Weinstein; Vice President Lee Drucker; and Analyst Robert Steimel. Advising BlackRobe on ethics and compliance issues is Professor Michele DeStefano Beardslee of the University of Miami Law School. Operational support and investment relations are provided by Chief Administrative Officer Stephanie Reckler and Vice President Matt Grayson.

BlackRobe Capital is not a law firm and does not engage in the practice of law. Neither it nor its managers or employees render legal advice of any sort in any jurisdiction.

For more information about BlackRobe, go to www.blackrobecapital.com.

SOURCE BlackRobe Capital Partners, LLC